Member or structure vibrated by energy impulses



July 7, 1931. F. A. STAPLER 1,313,553

MEMBER OR STRUCTURE VIBRATED BY ENERGY IMPULSES Filed Oct. 10, 1928 Patented July 7, 1931 UNITED STATES Fremont.

'A. STAPLER; F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIEGNLOR "DO VICTOR TEIIKING MAGI-IINE COMPANY, A CORPORATION O FVNIEW JERSEY j MEMBER OR- STRUCT UR-E- VIBRATECD BY ENERGY' ISMPULSES Application filedOctoher 10, 1928. Serial No. 311,554.

. 20,000 cycles per second or those having a frequency of the order usually encountered in s eechi or music transmission.

'bfy invention relates to a member or structure, as aforesaid, utilized to transmit or transfer energy impulses, as aforesaid, from one region to another or from a transmitting memberto a receiving member.

My invention relates to a member or structure, as aforesaid, as an arm or bar to which vibratory motion is imparted by a transmitting member or system, as a phonograph rec- 0rd or a magnetic structure, the energy impulses actuating or controlling a suitable receiving member or system, as a diaphragm, armature, or the flux .in a magnetic circuit.

' In accordance with my invention, the configuration of each of a plurality of blanks is changed to produce dissimilar structures which are thereafter secured together to form a member or structure, as aforesaid.

Further in accordance with my invention, the aforesaid blanks are formed from sheet material having different thicknesses.

Further in accordance with my invention, each of theaforesaid blanks is shaped to produce a body portion having lateral wings, the wings of one body portion-reinforcing the Wings of another body portion. 7

More particularly, in accordance with my invention, the aforesaid wings. of one of said shaped blanksare folded or bent around-portions only of the wings of another of said shaped blanks to thereby produce a hinge structure.

Further in accordance with my invention, resilient members of sheet material are disposed. on each side of a member or structure, as aforesaid, to form a hinge support therefor, said resilient members, ordinarily, being disposed. in a singleplane.

In accordance with one important phase of my invention, the aforesaid member or structure is an arm or bar carrying, at one end, a-stylus or needle, the other end thereof being connected to a sound-producing dia- 2, are substantially phragm.- The detailed description following hereafterrefers to a construction'o'l the character last described, althouglrit shall be PATENT vorrrca understood that my invention is not to be thus limited.

v invention resides in the member or structure, article, method, and features of construction of the character hereinafter d'escribed and claimed. I Y

For an illustration of some ofthe forms my novel member or structure or article may take and for an understanding of my method, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which: 7 I I Figures 1 and 2 are plan views, respectively, of stampings or blanks destined to form a single needle arm.

Figs. 3 and a are perspective views, respectlvely, of shapedblanks produced from the blanks of Figs. 1 and 2. w

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a. needle arm produced by assembling the shaped blanks illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4:. 7

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, ofmy novel needle arm or stylus needle arm.

Fig. 8 is a transverse. horizontal sectional vlewtaken .onthe line 88 of ig 6 and lookmg 111 the direction of'the arrows.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view of the stylus-carrying end of my needle {:LII'H.

' Fig. 10 is a perspective View of another TfOI'IH of needle arm constructed 1n accordafter proper shaping operations, to be-secured in assembled relation forforming a blanks, ordinarily, are stamped from sheet material and, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and or entirely plane in configuration. T

To shape theblank B, it maybe bent or folded along lines substantially as indicated by the broken lines 1, 1 Fig. 1, to produce stylus baror needle arm. The aforesaid= the tapered walls or members a, a, Fig. 3, joined by a base substantially arch-shaped in cross-section and from which a member 1; extends. To further shape the blank B, it may be bent or folded along lines substantially as indicated by the broken lines 2, 2, Fig. 1, to produce the wing members 0, 0, Fig. 3, extending in oppositedirections from one another in a single plane, in the example shown,

and disposed substantially at right angle to the respective members a, a.

The blank B1 is bent or folded along lines substantially as indicated by the broken lines 3, 3, Fig. 2, to form substantially one-half of said blank B1 as a section comprising the walls (Z, (Z joined by a base substantially arch-shaped in cross-section. To further shape the blank B1, it is bent or folded along lines substantially as indicated by the broken lines 4:, Fig. 2, outlining a Y-shaped figure, to form substantially one-half of said blank B1 as a section comprising a substantially triangular opening or chamber 6, Fig. 9, to one side of which are the blank walls 7, f disposed adjacent each other and in contacting relation, or substantially so. To still further shape the blank B1, it is bent or folded along lines substantially as indicated by the broken lines 5, 5, Fig. 2, to produce the wing members 9, 9 extending in opposite directions from one another in a single plane and disposed substantially at right angles to the respective walls (1, (Z.

After the blank B1 has been shaped as described above, the walls f, are suitably united, preferably by a welding operation as indicated by the cross-hatching in Fig. 7. Thereupon, the structure formed by said walls f, f is provided with a threaded passage communicating with the aforesaid chamber a and receiving the threaded shank of a screw it which binds or retains one end of a needle or stylus 2'. within the chambere. Ordinarily, movement of said needle or stylus i in one direction within the chamber 6 is limited by a stop j-suitably formed therein, the operative end of said needle or stylus projecting from said chamber for eoaction with a talking machine or. phonograph record, not shown.

To assemble the shaped members B and B1, the section of the latter defined by the walls (5, (Z is disposed within the walls a, a of blank B to produce the composite structure or needle arm illustrated in Fig. 5, adjacent parts of the respective members being suit ably united, as by a soldering operation. The parts are so proportioned that substantially one-half of each wing 9 assumes a position immediately adjacent one side of each wing a while the otherhalf of each wing 9 extends beyond each wing 0. The last named parts, namely, the exposed sections of the wings 7 are then bent around untilU-shaped and immediatelyadjacent the opposite sidesof the member 16.

respective wings a and, in this position; the folded Wings 9 are soldered, or otherwlse suitably secured to the respective wings 0.

A needle arm or stylus bar of the character hereinbefore described is illustrated in Fig. 6 as forming part of a talking machine or phonograph sound box. This sound box may be of any suitable or desired character and in Fig. 6 is illustrated as comprising a base section 10 terminating in a tubular conduit 10a adapted to be associated with the tone arm of a sound amplifying horn. A diaphragm 11 of any suitable character which, however, in the example illustrated is of the type illustrated in my co-pending application Serial No. 311,553 filed Oct. 10, 1928, is received at its peripheraledge between washers 12,12, a cap member 13- cooperating with a ring 1 1 threaded thereto to retain the diaphragm 11 in the position illustratedin Fig. 6. One side of the cap member 13 may On the side of the diaphragm 11 facingthe conduit 10a, there may be disposed a plug or member 18 for producing properly dimen sioned paths for the propagated sound waves.

In the example illustrated, the composite needle arm of stylus bar is secured to thediaphragm 11 only at the mid-point thereof, the member 6 constituting a tiemember between the needle arm proper and the diaphragm, said member 7), in the example shown, passing through a bushing disposed centrally of the diaphragm and being suitably secured thereto, as by a mass of wax or solder, not shown.

The wings 0 constitute the hinging or pivotal support for the needle arm or stylus barand they may be supported in any suitable manner. To this end, in the example shown, the cap section 13 is provided with the lugs or members 15 projecting laterally therefrom,

between one face of a lug 15 and a plate or In the example shown each wing 0 is provided, during the stamping operation,with a passage 01 through each of which and alined passages in a lug 15 and member16 extends a bolt.17 for clamping the wings and for pivotally mounting the composite needle arm in the position illustrated in Fig. 6. In this manner, the needle arm may be mounted for hinging or pivotal movement and, due to the fact that the Wings 0 are constructed. of resilient material, said needle arm is self-restoring in the sense that, of its own volition, it tends to return to an original position after being moved from such position.

Energy impulses set up by the phonograph or talking machine record are transmitted to the sound producing diaphragm by the thereto-connected needle arm or stylus bar. It.-

highly desirable, therefore, that the latter be so constructed as to be freely vibratable in one plane, readily restorable to an original position and resistant to vibration in planes other than said one plane. A needle arm constructed and mounted as hereinbefore described. and illustrated is readily movable or vibratable only in the forward and reverse direction in which it moves when moving the diaphragm 11 or the central portion thereof side-wise in either direction. In other words if the parts were positioned as illustrated in F ig. 6. the needle arm would be readily vi-bra-tahle inthe plane of the paper, the pivotal or hinging auris of said needle arm substantially coinciding with a line.ww, Fig. 8, passing through the wings a, 0, at the ends of lugs 15, 15.

At the same time due to the construction and arrangement of parts the needle arm is not freely vibratable or movable in a direction longitudinally thereof, nor in that direction in which it would move under the influence of friction imposed by the record which, were the parts positioned as illustrated in Fig. 6, would be substantially at right angles to, the plane of the paper.v The nonvibratory or non-movable features of the-needle arm noted immediately above arise largely due to the fact that the folded wings g stifienor reinforce the wings 0 and, accordingl-y, as illustrated in Figs. 6- and 8, the needle arm hinging or, pivotal axis defined by the line mm constitutes only small exposed surfaces of the wings a. The other portions of said wing 0 are stiffened or rein.- forced as described and undesired vibratable movement is thereby largely prevented.

A needle arm or stylus bar constructed and mounted in accordance with myinven: tion, besides possessing the desirable pivotal or hinging characteristic noted above, is of small weight, particularly the member B comprised therein, whichmay be formed of suitable elastic or resilient material, as steel or bronze having a thickness of 0.008.- of an inch, more or less. Due to this, feature,the moment of inertia about the axis' 00% 1s small and, as a result, the quality of sound the wallsla, aand connectedbase section, the

membcr'B, is sufficiently stiff and does. not

- substantially flex or give.

It highly desirable that the connecting tie member 6 he formed. integrally with the needle arm proper, or the part B thereof,

' and this may readily be accomplished by forming the member bby the same die structure that. forms the blank 13. Moreover, since the material forming the blank B. is very thin, it follows that the mass of the tie member 6, is kept, smalhthis being highly desirable.

The tie member may lead direct to the diaphragm or, preferably and as illustrated, the connection may be circuitous and comprise, a U-shaped bend 61, or equivalent, by virtue of which the flexibility of the tie connection is improved. It should also be noted that there is a portion 62' of the tie member 6' beyond the Walls a, a substantially in alinement with the base between said walls and that, during a period of sound production, flexing or giving action in the needle arm proper largely occurs in said portion 62.

lV-ith the two-piece construction comprising the members B and B1, the latter, ordinarily,'is formed from material having a thickness of the order of 0.014 of an inch, more: or less, this being thicker thanthe material from which member B is formed. although said thicker material, preferably, is

otherwise similar to that from which the member Bis formed. -With material of such thickness. for member B1, an efficient thread may be produced for the screw it by virtue of which the stylus or needle is firmly held inposition on or in the needle arm. Moreover, with the two-piece construction illustrated, the hinge wings, namely, the wings 0, c are formed from the material having the lesser thickness, this, of course,- being desirable where an eflicient hinge joint is. Vdesired. Still further, the reinforcing or stifi- .ening members for the wings 0, 0, namely, the wing-s9, g= are formed of material having the greater thickness and this, too, is desirable from. thereinforcing viewpoint.

To further enhance the freedom with which the needle arm pivotally moves in: the desired direction, as aforesaid, material may be-remgoved from the axis In the example shown, this result is attained by form ing, during the stamping operation, a plural ity of openings or holes 02 in those regions of. the wings 0 destined to fall within the aforesaid axis m0c- In Fig. 10, there-is illustrated another. form of my invention wherein the: hinge wings y, 3 corresponding with the aforesaid wings a, c. are formed separately from, and not in tegral; with, the needle arm proper and particularly the member Y thereof, the latter otherwisecorresponding with the aforesaid member-B. Aswas the case with the wingsc, c.,.the wings g, 9 after they are folded around the-ends of the respective wings y, g serve to reinforce or stiffen said wings y, y, but. with formed of very thin material while at the same time, the member B1 associated therewith may be formed of material of any suitable thickness.

It will be observed that the hinge wings a, 0 which are formed integrally with the member B are disposed on opposite sides thereof and equal distances from the diaphragm 11. Preferably, said wings 0, 0 are placed in a single plane disposed substantially at right angles to the plane of the diaphragm 11 which, in the example illustrated is a plane passing between the rings 12, 12. The same is true of the wings y, y which are formed separately from the member Y. This feature is of distinct importance since, with constructions of the character illustrated, the diaphragm velocity, i. e. sidewise vibration, is largely or substantially independent of deflection or bending of the needle arm hinge wings, a condition which is not satistied when said hinge wings are disposed in a plane substantially parallel with the plane of the diaphragm.

Although the formation of the completed members 13 and B1 has been described as following a particular sequence-of steps, it shall be understood that any desired sequence of steps may be followed and that, if desirable and advisable, the structures illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4: may be produced from the respective structures illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 by performing all of the folding operations substantially simultaneously. Moreover, forming dies, not shown, usually are utilized. to bring the blanks to their proper configurations.

Although the aforesaid members, structures, bars or arms have been illustrated and described as operated by a phonograph or talking machine record, it shall be understood that my invention is not to be thus limited. Thus, for example, said members, structures, bars or arms may be magnetically actuated, the needle orstylus, in such case, being omitted. L

Still further, although the hereinbefore described members, structures, bars or arms have been specifically referred to for diaphragm-actuating purposes, it shall be distinctly understood that my invention is not to be limited to such an arrangement. Thus, for example, said members, structures, bars, or arms, actuated or vibrated by a stylus or needle, or otherwise as desirable, may be utilized to transfer impulse energy to the vibrating element orto serve as the vibrating element/of any device for which they are adapted, particularly devices which vibrate in accordance with sound.

hat I claim is:

1. A vibratable member for transmitting energy impulses from one region to another, said member comprising a body portion formed from a plurality of shaped structures of sheet material having different thicknesses.

2. A vibratable member for transmitting energy impulses from one region to another, said member comprising a plurality of shaped structures of sheet material, one of said structures comprising a plurality of wings forming a hinge. v

3. A vibratable member for transmitting energy impulses from one region to another, said member comprising a plurality of shapedstructures of sheet material, each of said structures comprising a plurality of wings, one set of said wings forming a hinge.

4:. A vibratable member for transmitting energy impulses from one region to another, said member comprising a. plurality of shaped structures of sheet material, each of said structures comprising a body, portion having lateral wings. p

5. A vibratable member for transmitting energy impulses from one region to another, said member comprising a plurality of shaped structures of sheet material, each of said structures comprising a body'portion having lateral wings, the wings of one struc ture reinforcing the wings of anothei."structure.

6. A vibratable member for transmitting energy impulses from one region to another, said member comprising a plurality of shaped structures of sheet material, each of said structures comprising a body. portion having lateral wings, the wings, of one structure'being folded about the wings of another structure.

7. A vibratable member comprising a body portion having lateral win gs, and a reinforcing member of sheet material overlying a portion of each of said wings] 8. A vibratable membercomprisinga body portion having lateral wings, and reinforcing members of sheet material overlying portions of both sides of each of said wings.

9. A vibratory device comprising a shaped sheet metal structure having a pair of laterally extending wings for mounting said device, a portion of said wings being reinforced to increase rigidity but leaving a narrow transversely extending unreinforced region providing anaxis'of oscillation for said device.

10. A vibratory device comprising an elongated sheet metal memberof U-shaped cross section having laterally extending wings, and a second elongated metal member having a portion of U-shaped cross section fitting within said first member and having laterally extending portions. reinforcing said Wings.

11. A vibratory device comprising a sheet metal member of U-shaped cross section having laterally extending wings, and a second 4 sheet metal member having a U-shaped portron fittmg within said first member and a needle holding portlon.

12' A vibratory device comprising a sheet .metal member of U-shaped cross section having laterally extending Wings, and a second sheet metal member having a U-shaped portion fitting Within said first member, a needle holding portion, and laterally extending Wings secured to and reinforcing the wings on said first member.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification this 27th day of September,

FLORICEL A. STAPLER. 

